Fighting inequality through gender quotas: the Golfo-Mosca Law case

The problem of gender inequality has recently become an interesting topic of discussion in Europe. In recent decades, many countries have introduced specific legislations (called gender quotas) to reduce gender discrimination in the workplace. This thesis focuses on the case of Italy and the introduction of the Golfo-Mosca law in 2011 as a tool to fight inequality in the labor market. First, a general overview of the Italian labor market is given, focusing on gender inequality in relation to some specific aspects such as labor force participation rates, wages, and segregation, with particular attention to the main causes of this problem. After the general analysis, the focus is shifted to gender quotas, their definition, and their introduction in Europe in the last decades. Special attention is then given to the Golfo-Mosca Law, introduced in Italy to achieve full equality in Italian corporate boards. The last chapter analyses the main features of the law and compares the composition of boards before and after its introduction, to show the effective results of this measure.